Becoming Buddhist : Experiences of Socialization and Self-Transformation in Two Australian Buddhist Centres.
Eddy, Glenys.
Becoming Buddhist : Experiences of Socialization and Self-Transformation in Two Australian Buddhist Centres. - 1st ed. - 1 online resource (289 pages) - Continuum Advances in Religious Studies . - Continuum Advances in Religious Studies .
Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Glossary -- Chapter 1 Approaching the Western Buddhist Experience -- Introduction -- The Nature of Western Buddhism and the Western-Buddhist Identity -- Approaches to Understanding Religious Change -- Methodological Considerations -- Chapter 2 Instruction and Practice at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre -- Introduction -- Vipassana Practice at BMIMC: Doctrinal and Practical Foundations -- Contexts for Learning and Practice -- Introductory Retreats -- The Participant's Perspective: 'Being on Retreat' and Learning the Practice -- Conclusions -- Chapter 3 Self-Transformation through Vipassana Practice -- Introduction -- Patterns of Personal Practice -- Personal Practice: Techniques to Complement Vipassana -- Types of Transformation and Their Interpretive Frameworks -- The Sense-of-Self and Its Transformations -- Conclusions -- Chapter 4 Participation and Exploration at Vajrayana Institute -- Introduction -- The FPMT's Religious Foundations and Scriptural Authority -- Religious Activity at VI: Teachings, Ritual and Meditation -- Teachings and Courses -- The Participant's Journey Begins: Learning and Experimentation at VI -- Conclusions -- Chapter 5 The Practice of Self-Transformation at Vajrayana Institute -- Introduction -- Aims, Techniques and Outcomes of Sutra-Practice -- Tantric Activity at Vajrayana Institute -- The Sense-of-Self and Its Transformations -- Conclusions -- Chapter 6 An Overview of the Experimental Journey: Vipassana- and Vajrayana-Insights -- Introduction -- Part 1: The Commitment Process: The Experimental Model and Its Stages -- The Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre -- Vajrayana Institute and the Perspective of the FPMT -- Part 2: From Experimental Immersion to Commitment: Comparisons and Conclusions. A Comparison of Religious Backgrounds -- A Comparison of Personal Journeys -- The Acquisition of the Meaning-System: The Role of Doctrine, Practice and Experience -- The Commitment Process -- Appendices -- Appendix 1: Interview-Respondents -- Appendix 2: Schedule for Beginners Weekend Meditation Workshop, 29-30 May 2004 -- Appendix 3: Schedule for Long-Weekend Retreat, 12-15 June 2004 -- Appendix 4: Daily Schedule for 15-16 February during Four-Day Retreat, 14-17 February 2004 -- Appendix 5: Schedule for Days 3-9, 25 April- 1 May, during Nine-Day Retreat, 23 April to 2 May 2004 -- Appendix 6: Prayers for Before and After Teachings -- Appendix 7: Refuge Teachings, 19 June 2005 -- Appendix 8: Medicine-Buddha Practice Day, 28 May 2005 -- Notes -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- References -- Index.
What does it mean to be a Western Buddhist? For the predominantly Anglo-Australian affiliates of two Western Buddhist centres in Australia, the author proposes an answer to this question, and finds support for it from interviews and her own participant-observation experience.Practitioners' prior experiences of experimentation with spiritual groups and practices-and their experiences of participation, practice and self-transformation-are examined with respect to their roles in practitioners' appropriation of the Buddhist worldview, and their subsequent commitment to the path to enlightenment.Religious commitment is experienced as a decision-point, itself the effect of the individual's experimental immersion in the Centre's activities.During this time the claims of the Buddhist worldview are tested against personal experience and convictions. ÃÂ Using rich ethnographic data and Lofland and Skonovd's experimental conversion motif as a model for theorizing the stages of involvement leading to commitment, the author demonstrates that this study has a wider application to our understanding of the role of alternative religions in western contexts.
9781441161451
Buddhism -- Social aspects -- Australia.
Buddhist converts -- Australia.
Electronic books.
BQ772.E339 2012eb
294.30994
Becoming Buddhist : Experiences of Socialization and Self-Transformation in Two Australian Buddhist Centres. - 1st ed. - 1 online resource (289 pages) - Continuum Advances in Religious Studies . - Continuum Advances in Religious Studies .
Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Glossary -- Chapter 1 Approaching the Western Buddhist Experience -- Introduction -- The Nature of Western Buddhism and the Western-Buddhist Identity -- Approaches to Understanding Religious Change -- Methodological Considerations -- Chapter 2 Instruction and Practice at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre -- Introduction -- Vipassana Practice at BMIMC: Doctrinal and Practical Foundations -- Contexts for Learning and Practice -- Introductory Retreats -- The Participant's Perspective: 'Being on Retreat' and Learning the Practice -- Conclusions -- Chapter 3 Self-Transformation through Vipassana Practice -- Introduction -- Patterns of Personal Practice -- Personal Practice: Techniques to Complement Vipassana -- Types of Transformation and Their Interpretive Frameworks -- The Sense-of-Self and Its Transformations -- Conclusions -- Chapter 4 Participation and Exploration at Vajrayana Institute -- Introduction -- The FPMT's Religious Foundations and Scriptural Authority -- Religious Activity at VI: Teachings, Ritual and Meditation -- Teachings and Courses -- The Participant's Journey Begins: Learning and Experimentation at VI -- Conclusions -- Chapter 5 The Practice of Self-Transformation at Vajrayana Institute -- Introduction -- Aims, Techniques and Outcomes of Sutra-Practice -- Tantric Activity at Vajrayana Institute -- The Sense-of-Self and Its Transformations -- Conclusions -- Chapter 6 An Overview of the Experimental Journey: Vipassana- and Vajrayana-Insights -- Introduction -- Part 1: The Commitment Process: The Experimental Model and Its Stages -- The Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre -- Vajrayana Institute and the Perspective of the FPMT -- Part 2: From Experimental Immersion to Commitment: Comparisons and Conclusions. A Comparison of Religious Backgrounds -- A Comparison of Personal Journeys -- The Acquisition of the Meaning-System: The Role of Doctrine, Practice and Experience -- The Commitment Process -- Appendices -- Appendix 1: Interview-Respondents -- Appendix 2: Schedule for Beginners Weekend Meditation Workshop, 29-30 May 2004 -- Appendix 3: Schedule for Long-Weekend Retreat, 12-15 June 2004 -- Appendix 4: Daily Schedule for 15-16 February during Four-Day Retreat, 14-17 February 2004 -- Appendix 5: Schedule for Days 3-9, 25 April- 1 May, during Nine-Day Retreat, 23 April to 2 May 2004 -- Appendix 6: Prayers for Before and After Teachings -- Appendix 7: Refuge Teachings, 19 June 2005 -- Appendix 8: Medicine-Buddha Practice Day, 28 May 2005 -- Notes -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- References -- Index.
What does it mean to be a Western Buddhist? For the predominantly Anglo-Australian affiliates of two Western Buddhist centres in Australia, the author proposes an answer to this question, and finds support for it from interviews and her own participant-observation experience.Practitioners' prior experiences of experimentation with spiritual groups and practices-and their experiences of participation, practice and self-transformation-are examined with respect to their roles in practitioners' appropriation of the Buddhist worldview, and their subsequent commitment to the path to enlightenment.Religious commitment is experienced as a decision-point, itself the effect of the individual's experimental immersion in the Centre's activities.During this time the claims of the Buddhist worldview are tested against personal experience and convictions. ÃÂ Using rich ethnographic data and Lofland and Skonovd's experimental conversion motif as a model for theorizing the stages of involvement leading to commitment, the author demonstrates that this study has a wider application to our understanding of the role of alternative religions in western contexts.
9781441161451
Buddhism -- Social aspects -- Australia.
Buddhist converts -- Australia.
Electronic books.
BQ772.E339 2012eb
294.30994